Saturday, November 25, 2006
NAIROBI, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki should declare massive flooding that has killed hundreds and displaced thousands across east Africa a "national emergency", aid agency ActionAid said.
Torrential rains in Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Sudan in recent weeks have affected at least 1.8 million people in the region, the U.N. says.
"The President needs to prioritise this immediately. Things are getting out of control," said Joyce Umbima, director for ActionAid Kenya, in a statement late on Friday.
"We need to deal with this problem head-on, and bring in some specialist expertise. People are suffering terribly."
There was no immediate comment from the president's office.
Aid workers fear thousands of people across the region face outbreaks of cholera, diarrhoea and other waterborne diseases unless they are given safe drinking water soon.
"Many people are still out in the open and torrential rains have continued overnight, so they have been exposed to constant rain. They are now at risk of disease and landslides are becoming a problem," Umbima added.
According to Kenya's meteorological department, the rains are expected to continue until mid-January.
In Somalia, the United Nations said flooding that has displaced thousands living near the Juba River will continue to worsen in the chaotic Horn of African nation.
"Aerial reconnaissance indicated a very serious situation in parts of Middle and Lower Juba and historical trends indicate that the worst flooding along the Juba is yet to come," said a report by the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.
"Entire settlements are under water with communities completely cut off and having moved to higher grounds living in makeshift shelter," it added after a recent aerial mission over some of the affected areas.
Chaos from Somalia's worst flooding in decades has come amid mounting fears of war between the nation's interim government and rival Islamists. The U.N. has said insecurity is hampering relief efforts for those affected by flooding in Somalia.
The OCHA report said two helicopters were expected to start delivering food aid next week.
Source: Reuters, Nov 25, 2006